The IPCC have delivered a ruling on the death of reggae star Smiley Culture.
An iconic performer, Smiley Culture became one of the biggest stars to emerge from the British reggae scene. Bridging the gap between reggae and Dancehall, his flow mixed Caribbean rhythms with a London flavour.
In later life, Smiley Culture allegedly became involved with illegal drugs. A police raid on his home last year saw the reggae star fall under the suspicion of conspiracy to deal large quantities of cocaine.
During the course of the raid, the singer was found with a large single knife wound to the chest. Taken to hospital, Smiley Culture tragically passed away with fans focussing their anger on the police.
Nephew Merlin Emmanuel was extremely vocal in his criticism of his the police, forcing the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate the case.
According to the official report from police, Smiley Culture was allowed to depart to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Finding a knife, police allege that the reggae singer committed suicide by thrusting it into his chest.
The IPCC investigated the case and despite finding flaws in the police case have ruled out a misconduct charge. Writing a letter to David Emmanuel (via The Guardian), the commission explained:
“The investigation has identified aspects of the operation which were not satisfactory, and criticism has been made of some of the officers’ actions. However, these do not meet the threshold for misconduct under the police misconduct system”.
Police officers can still face renewed action if the Met Police initiate an “unsatisfactory performance procedure” – if successful, this could result in dismissal action.
Smiley Culture’s family are vowing to fight on. My dad was under arrest and had an officer specifically allocated to his care. How could he walk around the kitchen and grab hold of a knife, without that officer seeing? And why would he? Even the police who were there admit he had been completely calm and cooperative up until that point” said Shanice McConnachie, Emmanuel’s 17-year-old daughter.
“After he was stabbed, why did they police handcuff him? Our pathologist’s report says he would have died almost instantly,” she asked. “The police should have been focused on keeping his bleeding to a minimum and calling an ambulance. The IPCC and police don’t seem to care about helping us get to the truth of what really went on.”